Pages

Monday, April 15, 2013

Dachshund Nola Reviews: BrilliantK9 Harness

Hi, all! It's day 1 of "Review Week", which starts today and ends on Saturday. After this review week, I will cut back to 1 review a week, which will be on either Tuesdays or Thursdays.

Today's review is for BrilliantK9: Where Brilliant People Shop For Their Dogs, a company that makes harnesses (with customizable and removable patches), leashes, gear bags and crate mats, as well as Back On Track for both people and dogs. They're also on Etsy, and you can find them here. I'm excited to be reviewing this harness (I'm wearing it in the header pic), so let's get to it!

About the company:

Hi! I want to tell you about our business, Brilliantk9.com!! I grew up raising horses and was always around dogs on the farm. I am passionate about animals and like many other people, have compassion for the way animals are treated. I respect them and appreciate them. Thus, one of the reasons I have decided to begin this new venture, is due to the fact that many dog collars and harnesses are made WITHOUT the dog’s best interests in mind. Dogs like our harnesses becasue they feel like they are getting a nice soft hug, which can help to keep them calm in stressful situations.

Our harnesses at Brilliantk9.com are made with comfort and years of working with horses in mind. The question, how is it that you can gently and easily control a 1,200lb horse easier than a dog? Well, the first thing you learn is to never pull on a horse, because they win. But you can easily bump a horse off the bit by gently pulling and releasing until the horse relaxes and gives in. This is the concept we use when developing our harness. A dogs chest and neck are the strongest part of their body and yet all the harnesses and collars are made so that is the area you are trying to control the dog from. We've tweaked all the designs and come up with a fit that works for the dog and the handler.

Fitting is extremely important for the harness to work correctly. Our harnesses are designed to sit on the dogs back, so the girth goes around the belly and sits over the last few ribs, just before their waist. This is actually one of the more sensitive areas of the dog. The girth should never be so tight that the dog is uncomfortable, and the girth should not be so loose that the saddle lifts off the dogs back more than an inch or two.

The front is made so that the chest strap will not choke the dog and the D-ring on the back is made so that rather than being in a pulling war you can pull and release several times in an upward direction and the girth bumps against the last few ribs on the dog to nudge them out of the pulling position. Stopping the dog from pulling should be a gentle correction and allow the dog to have a comfortable tension on the leash without pulling. Also in stressful situations you can gently lift the front feet off the ground, the dog learns they lose control and are gently forced to relax.

***We do note that the harness is a tool and no tool is right for every situation. We do not recommend harnesses for large aggressive dogs. Basically if the dog wears a size medium or above and or the dogs weight would mean you would have a hard time lifting it, not a good tool. Also in cases where the height of the dog is just below your hand or above. In that case if you can't bump in an upward direction easily then the effectiveness is limited.

Our harnesses are soft, yet very strong. They are renowned for their comfort and fit with an easy on and off. Simply slide it over the dog’s head and clip the belly buckle. Our harnesses are used by K9 athletes, service dogs, working dogs and security dogs. We have added a reflective strip along the sides to ensure the safety of the dog at night.

Durability – Our harnesses are made with Cordura and nylon webbing and should last for years without trouble. It also has a convenient built-in handle so that if you need to lift the dog at anytime, you will be able to do it safely and without harm to the dog. This is great when you are in a crowded situation or at a dog park and need to rescue your pooch for any reason. It also is great in competitions when you have to hold the dog back until the signal is given to release. Great for those fly ball and disc dog enthusiasts!!! We also enjoy working with the various rescue groups in supporting their causes!!

We are so proud to say that all of our harnesses are 100% MADE IN Ohio!! We are supporting jobs in Ohio and that means A LOT to us!! We are also happy to say that our harnesses will be worn at the World Agility Trials in Spain this Summer, helping to represent TeamUSA!! Go Team!!

Our harnesses come in many sizes and colors. We can fit just about any dog down to the smallest teacup Chihuahua to a large Mastiff !! The fun part about dogs that wear our harnesses is the fact that they can put their names on the harness by ordering our Velcro custom name patches. If you order your harness through Etsy, we will give every customer a FREE NAME PATCH that can be added to the sides of the harness. Very cool at agility and other competitions!!! The dogs love seeing their names in print on the side of their very cool harness!!!

Check us out!! Brilliantk9.com …where Brilliant people shop for their dogs!

Love,

Teri

BrilliantK9'sharnesses are made to fit dogs of all sizes, but for use as a walking harness are recommended for dogs 2-85lbs. If you dog is over 85lbs, the BriliantK9 harness could still be used as a mobility harness. They come in the sizes:

Teacup: 2-6lbs with up to a 10.5" girth ($34.99)Toy: 5-11lbs with up to a 17" girth ($36.99)Petite (the size I am): 8-15lbs with up to a 18" girth ($44.99)Small: 13-25lbs with up to a 24" girth ($46.99)Tweener: 13-25lbs with up to a 24" girth ($53.99)Medium: 25-50lbs with up to a 30" girth ($54.99)Large: 50-75lbs with up to a 35" girth ($56.99)Xtra Large: 65-85lbs with up to a 40" girth ($64.99)

Like I said, they do go to over 100lbs, but are recommended for the above sizes.

I picked the petite harness in the color cosmic pink. My favorite part is the custom name patch I have! The name patches come in both plain and bling (I have a bling one). I love the bright colors of the harness, and the tag adds that extra something that every pup needs.

My tag is the bling version in turquoise

Both this patch and my name tag are removable

PROS:
Cute!

High quality

Lots of sizes

Great customer service

Unique and cool looking

High quality

Made in the USA

Fair prices for the quality

Dried quickly after getting wet at the beach

Custom name tags that are removable

Sturdy and durable

Quick release buckle

Handle at the top makes it easy to keep ahold of your dog

Velcro to hold handle down when not in use

Reflective areas

Taken with the flash on. As you can see, very reflective.

The silver edging is also reflective.

CONS (a lot are Doxie specific):
I wish the neck strap of the harness sat a tad bit lower, or was angled a bit

If it angled down just a bit to meet at the point of my keel (Doxie talk for chest bone), it'd be perfect. Because of my long neck, it sits right at the base of my throat. Good thing I'm trained not to pull!

It's made of fairly thick material, so I won't be wearing it in the summer

The neck strap is a bit of a pain to adjust

It's kind of hard to explain how to do it, but basically it's velcro you thread through a metal loop then fold onto itself to fit

It might be due to my Doxie shape or Mom not having it adjusted right, but the harness does slid around some

Also might be due to Doxie shape, but I wish the chest strap sat back a bit further

I'm not a fan of the way the recommend teaching your dog to stop pulling using this harness, and I do not recommend you use the harness the way they describe

The colors shown are a little off; for example the "red" looks like a dark pink online, but in person is red

The buckle is a tad too big for my size

Bulky buckle for little me, and it sits a little to far forward. I think if the neck strap was angled like mentioned above, the chest strap would sit just fine.

For my shape and clumsy Mom, it was not easy on/off. It would most likely be for other breeds, though!

Overall, I give BrilliantK9 3 1/2 stars for Doxie shapes and 4 stars for other breed shapes, and 1 and 1/2 paws up. Head on over, and tell em Nola sent ya!

Kisses and Tail Wags,
Dachshund Nola

The thick material and full coverage make it a great late fall and winter harness, but during spring, summer and earlier fall I probably won't wear it much.

20 comments:

As always Nola, we love that you are so honest in your reviews. Keep up the good work!

We have to admit, it looks a but klumsey on you. Looks like you outgrew it as it is very short on your back. We don't like the thick buckles either. Maybe it would be better for a larger dog. It is very nice looking tho.

Very interesting but yah, it needs to be more angled and Jazzi wouldnt like the buckle rubbing against the back of her front leg, a little too close for us. Nice color too but looks kinda heavy too.Thanks for showing us

You look super cute in that harness Nola. We are looking for the ideal harness for Chester and Gretel but this one doesn't look like the one for us. I was intrigued though and read your whole review :)

Nola - we are mightymitedoggear.com will be selling the Brilliant K9 harnesses. We think you are an excellent model and would like to feature you on our website. Please ask your human if it is OK to use your photos on our site? We are excited that you like the product so much and love that even the teenest dogs can have the best harness! Thanks for your excellent review.